Apparatus for fitting lid to a container

ABSTRACT

The apparatus (10) for fitting lids (18) to a container (50) is disclosed. The apparatus (10) has an applicator (11,30) and a magazine (12) on which a supply of lids (18) is supported. The applicator (10) may be moved relative to the magazine (12) and pressed against the lids (18) to pick up one of the lids. By pressing the applicator into engagement with an open topped container (50) tabs (20) on the lid are bent out of the plane of the lid and the lid is fitted to the container (50).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an improved lid for containers, an improveddisposable container and to an apparatus for sealing containers with thelid of the invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Containers of the general type to which this invention relates areusually employed for convenience foods and drinks such as ice cream,french fries and soft drinks. Containers of this type are usuallyintended for a single use and are then discarded. Although thecontainers are usually frusto conical in shape, they need not be of thatshape. For example, sometimes containers of this type are of a truncatedpyramidal shape. For containers of the frusto conical shape, lids ofplastic material were provided. These lids were usually made of amaterial different from the material from which the container as a wholewas made and this presented a difficulty from a re-cycling point ofview. Typically, the lids had a main panel, a sealing groove and aperipheral flange. To position the lid onto a container it was necessaryto press an upper peripheral lip of the container into the sealinggroove. This tended to be a progressive process and required the usergradually run his fingers along the groove and press downwardly untilthe lid was completely in place.

Not only was the process of fitting the lid to the container difficultbut the resultant sealed container could not readily be recycled in itsentirety because the lid was made from a material different from thematerial employed for the container.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved lid, animproved container and an apparatus for fitting the lid to the containerwhich at least minimises the disadvantages referred to above.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a lid for acontainer, the lid having a closure panel with an outer periphery and atleast two tabs extending outwardly from and at spaced locations on theperiphery, the tabs being coplanar with the closure panel and deformableout of the plane of the panel when mounted relative to a container.

According to another aspect, the invention provides a container to whichthe lid mentioned above having tabs may be attached, the containerhaving an upper peripheral lip and a shoulder spaced from the lip by apredetermined distance corresponding to the length of the combinedlength of the tab and the thickness of the material from which the lidis made.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided anapparatus for fitting a lid to a container, the lid having a closurepanel and at least two tabs extending therefrom and the container havinga peripheral lip and a shoulder spaced from the lip by a predetermineddistance, the apparatus including an applicator and a magazine forreceiving a supply of lids and maintaining them in a predeterminedorientation relative to the magazine, the magazine including guides forreceiving the applicator, the applicator having recesses for receivingthe tabs of a lid such that the applicator is able to pick up only onelid at a time and a lip receiving recess whereby, in use the applicatoris adapted to pick up one lid from the magazine and to be pressed ontothe lip of a container such that the tabs of the lid are bent out of theplane of the closure panel to thereby fit the lid to the container.

The lid has a closure panel and at least two tabs extending outwardlyfrom the periphery of the panel. It is preferred that the panel becircular in shape although other shapes such as square or rectangularmay also be employed. The tabs may be equally spaced around theperiphery of the panel. Preferably, there may be more than two tabs andin which case, the tabs may be equally or unequally spaced around theperiphery of the panel. In one embodiment the lid has four tabs equallyspaced around the periphery of the panel. The tabs may have a roundednose portion.

The lid may be made from any suitable material. Preferable, the lid ismade from the same material as that from which the container is made.Waxed or polymer coated fibreboard material is preferred although thelid and container may be made of plastic or any other suitable material.

The container may have any suitable transverse cross sectional shape.Clearly, the cross sectional shape is selected to correspond to theshape of the closure panel of the lid. Shapes suitable for the lid arecircular, square and rectangular. The container may conical in formalthough frusto conical and truncated pyramid forms are not excluded.

The container has a peripheral lip from which is spaced a shoulderagainst which the lid may rest when fitted to the container. Theshoulder is spaced from the lip by a distance corresponding to thecombined length and the thickness of the material from which the lid ismade.

The magazine may have a base on which a supply of lids may rest.Although the base may be of any suitable shape, it is preferred that thebase have a square shape. The base may have a spacer for locating thelowermost lid of the supply of lids at a height corresponding to the sumof the length of a tab and the thickness of the material of the lid. Thespacer may consist of a platform upon which the supply of lids may rest.The platform may comprise an upstanding circular boss.

The magazine may have guides for receiving the supply of lids and whichalso receive the applicator. The guides are preferably present in thesame number as there are tabs on the lid although this need not be thecase. Preferably, there are four guides. The guides may be provided byupstanding channels or grooves. In one embodiment, upstanding posts arepresent extending from the base and the posts each have a groove forreceiving respective tabs of the lid. The grooves also act as guides forreceiving the applicator. If desired, the inverse of what has beandescribed may also be used. For example, the guides may have ribs andthe tabs on the lids may have corresponding recesses. With such anarrangement, the applicator may be formed with recesses for receivingthe ribs on the guides such that the applicator may still be received bythe magazine and moved relative to it to pick up lids from the magazinefor fitting of the lids to a container.

The applicator has tab receiving recesses and a lip receiving recess andis adapted for guiding engagement with the magazine. In particular, theapplicator may have guide portions for engagement with the guidechannels or ribs. The location of the guide portions and of the tabreceiving recesses may correspond. Alternatively, the location of theguide portions and of the tabs receiving recesses may be staggered ordisplaced from each other. Where the lids are circular, the guideportions and the tab receiving recesses may be aligned or be radiallydisplaced from each other.

The tab receiving recesses, as mentioned, are adapted so that theapplicator picks up one lid at any one time from the supply of lids onthe magazine. To achieve this the tab receiving recesses may be key holeshaped having a tapered lead in portion and a narrower second portion.The underside surface of the applicator may have a suction cap to assistin picking up one lid at a time. The applicator has a limiting memberwhich functions to limit the distance to which the tabs may extend intothe tab receiving recess. The limiting member may consist of anabutment. In one embodiment the abutment comprises an abutment surface.The suction cap is preferably provided on this surface.

The applicator may include a handle readily graspable by a user. In onembodiment the handle is substantially T shaped although other shapesmay also be used.

DISCLOSURE OF THE DRAWINGS

Particular preferred embodiments of the invention will now be describedby way of example with reference to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plurality of apparatus according tothe present invention shown connected end to end;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a lid according to an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of an applicator according to anembodiment of the invention with the applicator shown partially insection;

FIG. 5 is a detailed sectional view of part of a container and theapplicator according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view useful in assisting the understandingof the operation of the apparatus of the invention; and,

FIGS. 7 and 8 are partial elevational and plan views respectively of andapplicator according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

From FIG. 1 an apparatus 10 of an embodiment of the invention is shown.The apparatus 10 includes an applicator 30 and a magazine 12. In thisfigure several apparatus 10 are shown interconnected to form a singleunit. This is achieved by a dovetail projection 13 (see FIG. 2) on oneedge of each apparatus 10 and a correspondingly shaped dovetail recess14 on an opposed edge of each apparatus. A plurality of apparatus eachadapted to function for lids of different size may be interconnected asa single unit as shown. Alternatively, an apparatus 10 adapted for usewith a particular size of lid may be used on its own.

In FIG. 2 a plurality of apparatus 10 are shown. The spacing of theguides 15 on the base 16 may be adopted to suit lids of a variety ofsizes. Guides 15 are only illustrated on the left hand base 16 in thefigure. These guides 15 have grooves 17.

FIG. 3 shows a lid 18 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.The lid 18 has a periphery 19 from which extend tabs 20 having a roundednose portion 21. These nose portions are received by grooves 17 in theguides 15. The lid 18 has a closure panel 22 which is normally co-planarwith the tabs 20 and the tabs are equally spaced around the panel 22.The lid may be made from fibreboard material treated to render itmoisture resistant. Any suitable material may be used. The lids have adrinking straw aperture defined by die cut portion 23.

The applicator 30 shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 has a handle 31graspable by a user. In this embodiment the handle is substantially Tshaped although other shapes may be used. The applicator 30 has anapplicator head 32. The head 32 consists of a downwardly directed skirt33 and a circular panel 34. The skirt 33 has keyhole shaped recesses 35(shown in greater detail in FIG. 7) of a number corresponding to thenumber of tabs on the lid. The recesses 35 each have a first portion 36(see FIG. 7) with substantially parallel sides. These sides have apredetermined length. The length corresponds to a limiting member orboss 37 on an inner face of the applicator which limits the extent towhich the tabs are received into the tab receiving recesses and thedistance to which the lids are received into the applicator head.

In this way the head is ever only able to pick up one lid at a time. Asuction cap 50a is secured to an inner end of stem of the handle 31.This assists in allowing the applicator to pick up one lid at a time.

Each tab receiving recess has a second recess portion 38 (see FIG. 7)with inwardly converging sides. These sides of the second portiontogether with the boss 37 ensure that only one lid is picked at a timeby the head. The second portion 38 of each recess 35 has arcuate outeredges 39 (see FIG. 7). The applicator 30 has circumferentially spacedlugs 40 arranged at even spacing around the head of the applicator andextending outwardly of the skirt 33. The lugs 40 have a curved end.Although the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 shows the lugs 40 coincidingwith the location of the tab receiving recesses this need not be thecase and the lugs 40 may be radially displaced from the recesses.Indeed, the number of lugs 40 need not correspond to the number ofrecesses.

The applicator 30 has a container lip receiving recess 41 extendingaround the head 32. The recess 41 has a depth corresponding to orgreater then the length of the tabs 20 and of a width suitable forreceiving the lip on a container. The corner 42 functions as a breakercorner to bend the tabs from their position co-planar with the closurepanel 22 to a position substantially at right angles to that panel andextending along an inner face of the surrounding wall of the container.

FIG. 5 is a detailed sectional view of part of the applicator 30 andshows the upper periphery of a container 50. The container 50 has arolled lip 51 and a shoulder 52 spaced from the lip 51 by a distancecorresponding to the combined length of the tabs 20 on the lid and thethickness of the material from which the lid is made. When theapplicator is placed over the container as shown in FIG. 5 and presseddown onto the container the lip 51 is received in the recess 41.Continued pressure of the applicator onto the container achieves theposition shown in FIG. 6 with the tab bent to extend up the interiorwall 53 of the container with the panel 22 of the lid located at thelevel of the shoulder in the container. The applicator may then belifted from the container and the fitting of the lid is complete.

With a supply of lids positioned on the base 16 as shown in FIG. 1 theapplicator 30 may be pressed onto the supply stack to pick up one of thelids. The manner in which this is achieved can best be described withreference to FIG. 7. In that Figure it can be seen that a lid 18 isreceived by the head 32 with tab 20 wedged within the second portion 38of the keyhole recess. It is not possible to pick up more than one lidbecause portion 38 is too wide. The applicator is guided in its movementby logs 40 which locate and travel in grooves 17 provided in the guides15 (see FIG. 1).

I claim:
 1. An apparatus for fitting a lid to a container, the lidhaving a closure panel and at least two tabs extending therefrom and thecontainer having a peripheral lip and a shoulder spaced from the lip bya predetermined distance, the apparatus including:an applicator; and amagazine for receiving a supply of lids and maintaining them in apredetermined orientation relative to the magazine, the magazineincluding guides for receiving the applicator, the applicator havingahead with a downwardly extending skirt, the skirt having tab receivingrecesses with an innermost first portion consisting of a slot withparallel sides and an outermost second portion consisting of a slot withinwardly converging sides, a lip receiving recess for receiving thecontainer having the peripheral lip, a limiting member on the undersideof the head for limiting the extent to which the tabs may be receivedinto the tab receiving recesses so that the applicator is able to pickup only one lid at a time from the magazine and allows the lid to bepressed onto the lip of the container so that the tabs of the lid arebent out of the plane of the closure panel to fit the lid to thecontainers.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the guides which receivethe applicator also function to maintain the predetermined orientationof the lids relative to the magazine.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2wherein the guides include guide grooves for receiving the tabs and forreceiving the applicator for guiding the movement of the applicatortowards the supply of lids on the magazine.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3wherein the magazine has a base upon which the supply of lids isreceived and the guides comprise upstanding posts extending from thebase.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the base has complementaryengaging portions on spaced edges to enable a plurality of saidapparatus to be coupled together as a unit.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1wherein the applicator has guide lugs co-operable with the guides of themagazine for guiding the applicator for movement relative to themagazine.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the guide lugs and the tabreceiving recesses on the applicator are located at common locations atspaced locations on the periphery of the applicator.
 8. The apparatus ofclaim 7 wherein the limiting member comprises a boss.
 9. The apparatusof claim 7 wherein the lip receiving recess is located between the skirtand the limiting member.
 10. The apparatus of claim 6 including at leastfour said lugs and four said tab receiving recesses.
 11. The apparatusof claim 1 wherein the applicator includes a handle extending from thehead.
 12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the limiting member has apredetermined length and wherein the first and second portions of thetab receiving recesses meet at a junction and the junction is adjacentan outmost face of the limiting member against which a lid abuts in use.13. The apparatus of claim 1 including a suction cap on an underside ofthe applicator for assisting the applicator in picking up one lid at atime.
 14. An apparatus for fitting a lid to a container, the lid havinga closure panel and at least two tabs and the container having aperipheral lip and a shoulder spaced from the lip by a predetermineddistance, the apparatus comprising:an applicator; and a magazine forreceiving a supply of lids and maintaining them in a predeterminedorientation relative to the magazine, the magazine including guides forreceiving the applicator, the applicator havingrecesses for receivingthe tabs of the lid such that the applicator is able to pick up only onelid at a time from the magazine; guide lugs co-operable with the guidesof the magazine for guiding the applicator for movement relative to themagazine; and a lip receiving recess, wherein when the applicator ispressed onto the lip of the container, the tabs of the lid are bent outof the plane of the closure panel to fit the lid to the container. 15.An apparatus for fitting a lid to a container, the lid having a closurepanel and at least two tabs and the container having a peripheral lipand a shoulder spaced from the lip by a predetermined distance, theapparatus comprising:an applicator; and a magazine for receiving asupply of lids and maintaining them in a predetermined orientationrelative to the magazine, the magazine including guides for receivingthe applicator, the applicator havingrecesses for receiving the tabs ofthe lid such that the applicator is able to pick up only one lid at atime from the magazine; guide lugs co-operable with the guides of themagazine for guiding the applicator for movement relative to themagazine, wherein the guide lugs and the recesses for receiving the tabson the applicator are located at common locations spaced on theperiphery of the applicator; and a lip receiving recess, wherein whenthe applicator is pressed onto the lip of the container, the tabs of thelid are bent out of the plane of the closure panel to fit the lid to thecontainer.